The present invention relates to a dynamic digital IIR audio filter and corresponding method.
The current state of the art for digital infinite impulse response (IIR) filters for audio applications utilizes long wordlengths to obtain adequate noise performance for adequate sound quality. Typically 24 bit or longer coefficients are used to obtain adequate resolution at low frequencies, and 24 bit multiplier data paths or multiple precision techniques are used to improve noise performance. Finally, extreme dynamic range problems exist when filters with very low frequency passbands are used. The article in the Jan. 1989 Journal of the Audio Engineering Society provides a summary of the current state of the art.
The state of the art in dynamic audio filtering, in which the coefficients are to be changing in time, is even more primitive. Coefficients are typically linearly interpolated, producing filters whose characteristics typically vary dramatically in audio quality over the sweep range from the desired swept response. The coefficients are linearly encoded in the classical IIR filter forms, preventing any logarithmic or audibly meaningful sweep, and requiring long words of typically 24 bits for adequate low frequency resolution. Furthermore, any dynamic sweeping requires computation of the increment required to be added each sample time. This complicates control of the filter during complicated sweeps, and makes it impossible to change the sweep trajectory of the filter mid-sweep without reading back the current sweep location.